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Herath jumps to fifth in Test bowler rankings

This is Herath’s highest-ranking since he achieved fourth spot following the Wellington Test against New Zealand in January 2015.

South Africa can move to fifth if it wins Test series against New Zealand

Sri Lanka left-arm spinner Rangana Herath has returned to the top five of the MRF Tyres ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers after registering his seventh 10-wicket haul which helped Sri Lanka to win the third Test by 163 runs and the series 3-0.

Herath, 38, recorded figures of six for 81 and seven for 64 in the Colombo Test, which has helped him to move three places up to fifth in the latest rankings which were released on Thursday morning.

This is Herath’s highest-ranking since he achieved fourth spot following the Wellington Test against New Zealand in January 2015.

The bowlers’ list is headed by England’s James Anderson, who leads India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin by 12 points. Dale Steyn, who will feature in the upcoming series against New Zealand, is third, 17 points behind the India off-spinner.

Chandimal has risen six slots to reach 17th spot in a list which is headed by Australia captain Steve Smith, while de Silva has shot up 30 places to 37th position. Kaushal Silva, who scored 115 in the second innings, has also moved up nine places to 39th on the rankings.

For Australia, opener David Warner has gained one place to share ninth spot with New Zealand’s Ross Tyalor, while Shaun Marsh, who struck the first century for Australia on the Sri Lanka tour in Colombo, has jumped 13 places to reach 33rdrank.

Smith, who scored 119 runs in the first innings, has retained his number-one ranking. He leads England’s Joe Root by 28 points, with Kane Williamson aiming to move into second position when he takes the field against South Africa in Durban as he trails the England batsman by just five points.

Meanwhile, South Africa has its task cut out in the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand starting on Friday, which it needs to win by any margin to overtake the opposition and move up two slots in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings.

South Africa, which has never lost a Test series to New Zealand, currently has 92 points and is placed seventh in the list led by newly-crowned India while New Zealand is fifth with 99 points. Sri Lanka, which completed a 3-0 whitewash over Australia in a home series on Wednesday, is in sixth position at 95 points.

A 2-0 win for South Africa in the series to be played in Durban and Centurion will lift it to fifth position with 98 points and will see New Zealand slip to seventh position with 94 points. Even a 1-0 win for South Africa will see it climb to fifth with 96 points, leaving New Zealand with 95 points and behind Sri Lanka on decimal points at seventh position.

On the other hand, a 2-0 win for New Zealand will carry it to 103 points and a 1-0 win to 102 points, but neither will be enough to take it above fifth rank. South Africa will remain on seventh position in either scenario with a tally of 86 and 88 points, respectively. Even a 1-1 draw will keep New Zealand in fifth position with 98 points and South Africa at its current 92 points.

MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings (as of 18 August 2016, before the start of the South Africa-New Zealand series)

Rank Team Points

1.India 112

2.Pakistan 111

3.Australia 108

4.England 108

5.New Zealand 99

6.Sri Lanka 95

7.South Africa 92

8.West Indies 65

9.Bangladesh 57

10.Zimbabwe 8

(Developed by David Kendix)

MRF Tyres ICC Test Player Rankings (as on 18 August 2016, after the Sri Lanka-Australia series)

Batsmen (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) Steve Smith Aus 906 58.55 936 v Eng at Lord's 2015

2 ( - ) Joe Root Eng 878 54.86 917 v Aus at Trent Bridge 2015

3 ( - ) K.Williamson NZ 873 51.29 893 v Aus at Perth 2015

4 ( - ) Hashim Amla SA 860 51.45 907 v Pak at Abu Dhabi 2013

5 ( - ) Younus Khan Pak 845 53.72 880 v SL at Lahore 2009

6 (+1) AB de Villiers SA 818 50.46 935 v Aus at Port Elizabeth 2014

7 (-1) Adam Voges Aus 802* 72.75 824 v SL at Galle 2016

8 ( - ) Ajinkya Rahane Ind 785! 49.00 785 v WI at St Lucia 2016

9= ( - ) Ross Taylor NZ 772 48.66 871 v WI at Hamilton 2013

(+1) David Warner Aus 772 48.63 880 v NZ at Perth 2015

Other selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

15 (-2) Angelo Mathews SL 731 47.16 877 v NZ at Christchurch 2014

17 (+6) D. Chandimal SL 692! 44.25 692 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016

28 ( - ) Dean Elgar SA 602* 36.73 626 v Eng at Johannesburg 2016

29 ( - ) B.J. Watling NZ 600 40.03 644 v Eng at Headingley 2015

30 ( - ) Tom Latham NZ 597*! 41.78 597 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016

32 ( - ) Faf du Plessis SA 583 41.02 710 v WI at Port Elizabeth 2014

33 (+13) Shaun Marsh Aus 576*! 40.22 576 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

37 (+30) D. de Silva SL 546*! 65.00 546 v Aus at Colombo (SSC) 2016

39 (+9) Kaushal Silva SL 525 30.89 638 v Pak at Colombo (PSS) 2015

50 (-1) JP Duminy SA 479 32.34 586 v SL at Galle 2014

Bowlers (top 10)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

1 ( - ) James Anderson Eng 870 28.28 884 v SL at Durham 2016

2 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 858 25.21 876 v WI at Antigua 2016

3 ( - ) Dale Steyn SA 841 22.53 909 v WI at Centurion 2014

4 ( - ) Stuart Broad Eng 836 28.52 880 v SA at Johannesburg 2016

5 (+3) Rangana Herath SL 831 28.71 851 v Pak at Colombo (SSC) 2014

6 (-1) Yasir Shah Pak 806* 27.48 878 v Eng at Lord's 2016

7 ( - ) Mitchell Starc Aus 792! 27.36 792 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

8 (-2) Ravindra Jadeja Ind 781* 23.42 789 v SA at Delhi 2015

9 ( - ) Trent Boult NZ 756 28.96 825 v Eng at Lord's 2015

10 (+1) Morne Morkel SA 724 29.33 776 v Aus at Cape Town 2011

Other selected rankings

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Avge Highest Rating

11 (+1) V. Philander SA 717 22.08 912 v Ind at Johannesburg 2013

13 ( - ) Neil Wagner NZ 699*! 30.43 699 v Zim at Bulawayo 2016

14 ( - ) Tim Southee NZ 692 32.18 799 v WI at Jamaica 2014

15 ( - ) Nathan Lyon Aus 677 32.80 696 v NZ at Wellington 2016

16 ( - ) Dilruwan Perera SL 645* 28.35 658 v Aus at Galle 2016

30 ( - ) Kagiso Rabada SA 469*! 24.70 469 v Eng at Centurion 2016

39 (+1) Mark Craig NZ 393* 45.56 405 v Aus at Wellington 2016

49 (+2) M. Siriwardana SL 314* 23.36 327 v Eng at Durham 2016

All-rounders (top five)

Rank (+/-) Player Team Pts Highest Rating

1 ( - ) R. Ashwin Ind 438! 438 v WI at St Lucia 2016

2 ( - ) Shakib Al Hasan Ban 384 419 v Zim at Khulna 2014

3 ( - ) Moeen Ali Eng 292/*! 292 v Pak at The Oval 2016

4 (+1) Mitchell Starc Aus 279! 279 v SL at Colombo (SSC) 2016

5 (-1) V. Philander SA 275*/ 376 v Aus at Cape Town 2014

*indicates provisional rating; a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.